2025 Retirement Confidence Survey: A Closer Look at Black Americans

Summary

The Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) was conducted for its 35^th year in 2025 to measure attitudes of American workers and retirees about issues surrounding retirement. The 2025 RCS included an oversample of Black Americans to allow for a closer analysis of the challenges that they face in saving and preparing for retirement. This is a follow-up analysis from the 2021 RCS, when an oversample of Black and Hispanic Americans was conducted to better understand the retirement preparations and thoughts about retirement of these populations.

In this analysis, the demographic profiles and composition of the Black population in the United States are compared with those of non-Black Americans, and Black Americans are found to be more likely to have lower incomes and fewer assets. This is a critically important consideration, as financial resources (income and assets) have historically had a clear correlation with retirement confidence and responses to many other RCS metrics. Consequently, this Issue Brief closely examines the responses of Black Americans, controlling for income. Key findings are:

• Confidence in having enough money to live comfortably in retirement increased with income, regardless of race. While confidence is lower for all Americans at lower incomes, Black Americans with incomes of less than $35,000 and $35,000–$74,999 were more likely to be confident than non-Black Americans of the same income levels. There was not a difference in confidence among those with incomes of $75,000 or more.
• The wealth gap between Black Americans and non-Black Americans remained even as income rose. Non-Black Americans were more likely to report having savings of $100,000 or more at each income level compared with Black Americans.
• Black Americans with higher incomes were more likely to consider debt to be a major or minor problem for their household than non-Black Americans. For those with incomes of $75,000 or more, 63 percent of Black Americans considered debt a problem for their household, compared with 45 percent of non-Black Americans. As a result, Black Americans in the same income groups were more likely to say debt is impacting their ability to save for retirement or to live comfortably in retirement.
• Black Americans, in general, agreed that they feel knowledgeable about managing their day-to-day finances and managing savings and investments for the future. Between three-quarters and nearly 90 percent of Americans depending on their income either somewhat or strongly agreed that they feel knowledgeable about managing their day-to-day finances, with only differences by race among those with middle incomes. While the share of Americans who agreed that they feel knowledgeable about managing savings and investments for the future was lower than for day-to-day finances, among those with the lowest incomes, Black Americans were more likely to feel knowledgeable than non-Black Americans. There were no differences by race among the two higher income groups.
• Black Americans with higher incomes were less likely to have personally saved for retirement. For those with incomes of $75,000 or more, 77 percent of Black Americans reported having saved for retirement, compared with 87 percent of non-Black Americans.
• The top reason for taking a loan or withdrawal from a workplace retirement plan was quite different between races. Black retirement plan participants were most likely to say that the reason they took a loan or withdrawal from the plan was to cover day-to-day expenses/make ends meet, while non-Black participants said it was to buy a home, car, or other large purchase.
• What kind of help Americans were hoping for when they looked for a financial advisor had some clear differences by race. Black Americans were more likely to be looking for help in reducing debt, figuring out life insurance needs, and creating a will or estate plan than non-Black Americans, while non-Black Americans were more likely to be looking for help in figuring out if they have saved enough for retirement.
• Black retirees were more likely to have retired earlier than planned. Among those who did retire earlier than planned, Black retirees were more likely to have done so because of a health problem or disability (44 percent of Black retirees vs. 32 percent of non-Black retirees).
• Among those who did work for pay after retiring, Black retirees were more likely to have done so because they needed money to make ends meet (66 percent of Black retirees vs. 35 percent of non-Black retirees).
• Black retirees were more likely to say that their retirement lifestyle is worse than expected. Black retirees were also less likely to say that they are able to spend money how they want within reason, and they were more likely to say that their overall expenses in retirement are higher than expected.

Black Americans reported disproportionately lower financial resources, and how they feel about retirement and financial security is clearly impacted by having less resources. In particular, Black retirees are struggling with higher likelihoods of their retirement lifestyle being worse than expected and having to retire earlier than planned because of a health problem or disability. Still, there are some modifications in the financial system that could help improve their prospects, such as increased assistance in balancing competing financial priorities like debt reduction, supporting family, and building long-term savings. In addition, Black Americans are more likely to want help from financial advisors with figuring out their life insurance needs and creating a will or estate plan. Employers can also help with these financial concerns with more education and financial wellbeing programs, as Black Americans are more likely to look to their employers for help in their retirement planning. Obviously, higher incomes would help, but the need for this assistance from the financial system in general and from employers exists across all incomes.